Short and Sweet

Mastering the short-reed has allowed callers to produce a broader range of goose sounds than ever before

By Gary Koehler

John Taylor admits that even he sometimes has a difficult time keeping up with the vernacular of his goose-calling passion. And that’s saying something, considering he was accorded the highest recognition on the contest calling circuit last November when he was named Champion of Champions at the World Goose Calling Contest in Easton, Maryland.

“It seems like every time you turn around somebody is coming up with new notes, really different sounds,” Taylor says. “In the contests, there are so many people trying to copy the leaders that the really good callers try to do something different to separate themselves. And I’ll tell you what, some of those new notes are really out there. I don’t know if geese can make them or not. But a lot of them sure sound cool.”

But Taylor is as much a goose hunter as a competitive caller. He was in the field 52 days last season, mostly on Maryland’s legendary Eastern Shore. For Taylor, luring birds within shotgun range ranks higher than impressing judges. The short-reed is Taylor’s goose call of choice on either stage. He crafts his own calls these days and calls them the Shore Thing.

“Your average weekend goose hunter is going to be able to pick up a short-reed and use it right away,” Taylor says. “With a little practice, they should be able to get a honk and a cluck. Everything else comes from there.”

The short-reed goose call, which many say originated with the early models of Kentucky call maker Charlie Hess, achieved widespread popularity about a decade ago. With few exceptions, short-reeds have displaced the flute as the dominant field and competition call from coast to coast. But don’t be misled. Although the short-reed has leveled the playing field by putting a large vocabulary of goose sounds within reach of most hunters, it is not a magical instrument. As with any other skill, learning to blow a short-reed requires time and practice. And while a short-reed will allow a caller to make more vocalizations, not all were created for hunting purposes. Many are employed simply to juice up contest routines. Imagination and experimentation have accompanied this surge in short-reed popularity.

Another world champion caller, Sean Mann, thinks youthful exuberance has had a hand in expanding goose calling’s vocabulary. Stop by any calling competition and it’s a good bet that the majority of the contestants are younger than 30. They are anxious to demonstrate the wide range of calls that can be coaxed out of a short-reed.

“Goose calling has arrived,” Mann says. “It is to young hunters what rock-and-roll was to kids in the 1960s. It is cool to be a goose caller. These kids want $200 goose calls instead of guitars and drums.”